Marin Taliban fighter on way back to U.S. / Walker will be arraigned in Virginia

Published 4:00 am, Tuesday, January 22, 2002

2002-01-22 04:00:00 PDT Washington -- Marin County Taliban fighter John Walker was moved today from a Navy ship in the Arabian Sea on the first leg of his journey back to the United States, Pentagon officials said.

Walker was transported from the aircraft carrier Bataan to a detention camp at Kandahar airport in southern Afghanistan. From there he will be placed on a transport plane that will return him to the United States to face criminal charges.

President Trump addresses nation after mass shooting at Florida SchoolWhite House

The 20-year-old Walker could be in the United States within a day or two, a Pentagon official said today.

Walker will be arraigned in federal court in Alexandria, Va., the Washington suburb where the government wants to try him on terrorism-related charges.

The most serious allegations -- conspiring to kill Americans abroad and providing support to a terrorist organization that results in deaths -- both carry possible life sentences.

Government officials wouldn't say anything specific about the plans for transporting Walker, which frustrates James Brosnahan, the San Francisco attorney hired by Walker's parents to represent him.

So far, Brosnahan has been unable to speak with Walker, who was taken into U.S. custody about seven weeks ago. The military and FBI agents who have interrogated Walker say he gave a detailed confession after waiving his rights to remain silent and consult with a lawyer.

"We only have press reports to rely on," Brosnahan said yesterday at his office in San Francisco. "They're not telling us much. I imagine we'll be going back there this week, though."

Brosnahan also said he has no idea when he and Walker's parents -- Frank Lindh and Marilyn Walker of Marin County -- will be allowed to talk to him.

The lawyer isn't even sure whether Walker wants him as his attorney. If not,

Walker presumably would be represented by federal public defenders or court- appointed lawyers.

"I don't think there's going to be a lot of access to him," Brosnahan said. "We'll have to see."

Despite his frustration over Attorney General John Ashcroft's assertion last week that Walker has no lawyer -- even though Brosnahan has worked on Walker's behalf since December -- Brosnahan was keeping the disagreement low- key yesterday and sticking to the legal issues facing the man he views as his client.

The federal government says Walker has no attorney because he did not choose Brosnahan. Walker's parents complain that they have been unable to contact their son since he was captured.

"I don't have anything to say at the moment about that," Brosnahan said of the representation matter, "but I will point out that the Supreme Court recently held that any U.S. citizen charged with a crime must be arraigned within 48 hours.

"John was charged last Tuesday, and here it is a week later and we still have no arraignment."

In trying Walker in Alexandria, the government chose the same federal courthouse where the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui is set to begin in September for alleged complicity in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.